Monday, January 3, 2011

Fresh Mochi.
Soft.
Chewy.
Filled with An or Sweet Red Beans.
Delicious.
And now...made at home!

I went over to JustJenn's house on New Year's Eve and Jenn taught me how to make homemade anko filled mochi. Yay, that's how us party animals celebrate!

As you know, my family makes a boatload of "unsweetened" mochi for New Year's celebrations. However, I haven't made sweet mochi. This is the one you find in Japanese confectionery stores like Sakuraya (in Gardena...THE BEST), Fugetsu-do, and Mikawaya. It is filled with anko or an - sweetened red or azuki beans. You can get the beans "rough" or "smooth" - we used smooth or koshi an today.

The ingredients:
1. Mochiko sweet rice flour from Koda Farms. They are the best makers of mochigome. I would never use anything else. The Japanese grocery store sells it for $1.10 - $1.60, and I've seen it for almost $4 at Vons. Crazy. It is gluten free.
2. Food coloring. Jenn used a couple drops of the gel food coloring. We made a batch of pink and purple mochi.
3. Potato starch. Before you ask, I don't know if there is a substitute. It is super duper soft stuff and doesn't really have a flavor...making it a perfect coating to the sticky mochi.
4. Sweetened Red Bean Paste (Smooth or Koshi) An. Jenn prefers the one in bag over the cans (she believes it is smoother).
5. Sugar. You'll need some sugar to make this sweetened mochi.

I think mochi making is definitely a team sport! For the "stir, stir, stir" part, it is helpful if you have someone hold the pot steady with a good grip and oven mitts. The other person takes a wooden spoon and stirs, stirs, stirs until the whole batch is smooth. Mochi is RICE and RICE is sticky...thus it is hard to stir. I had to stand on a step stool (curse of being short) to get good leverage and hold the wooden spoon with two hands to stir. Everything goes quick...so make sure everything is ready to go.

The hot mochi blob goes on a heavily covered potato starch board. Cover the mochi with more potato starch and you have a mochi baby. So soft, warm and cushy.

How to make mochi: Cut off a piece, flatten it out, place a piece of an in the center and pinch close. Put the closure seam on the bottom, shape into a round and perfecto! Mochi! Make sure the entire mochi (and your hands) are covered in potato starch...or it'll stick.

Jenn made a few filled with peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly and Nutella. I stuck with traditional an or sweetened red beans. I found it helpful to make little balls of an prior to making the mochi.

You can also make the mochi "dough" in the microwave, but I like the stove top method. I don't have to go to the gym. Check out this book Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes by Jean Watanabe Hee for more ideas.

Then we got silly with our mochi and made some old man faces. Jenn has these candy eyes...totally edible!

Your mochi came out so pretty. I've made these before, but with a microwave method rather than stirring on the stove. Btw, if you don't have potato flour, other flours that work for the coating are tapioca flour and corn starch.

haha true party animal indeeed :) lol at those old man faces :Di love making those mochi balls with anko fillings...the ones i buy from the stores are usually too sweet so its def good to make them at home so i can adjust the sweetness!

Hello, I just came across your wonderful blog. I'm thinking these mochi would make great christmas gifts for my gluten free friends. I'm going to try the red bean ones. I was also wondering if it would work to use matcha in the mochi paste, with a different filling. If it does, what filling do you think would go well with that flavor. Then I could make two different types.

I am in search of a mochi recipe that stays soft and gooey. Does yours do that? Meaning will it stay soft & gooey for even a couple of days? Matcha powder does work well in the mochi (for your readers info) and lastly... when mocha is filled, it becomes, Manju. Happy Cooking!!